What led Julian Sayin to Big Ten Freshman award and how he became the player he is

Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin has widely been regarded as the best player at his position all season long – in fact, the best player in the country, but without the accolade.

But on Thursday, Sayin scooped an annual award that really was never in doubt but further solidified his overall brilliance on the field.

Sayin was named the 2025 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, becoming the 12th Buckeye to do so in as many years, following Jeremiah Smith winning the honor in 2024.

His technique, his way of playing, could stem from making the most of the pandemic in 2020, when the world stood still amid the Covid-19 health scare.

Julian and his brother Aidan would chase the precise throw with an acai bowl on the line at Pine Park in downtown Carlsbad, California.

Following training with passing coach Jose Mohler, Sayin and his friends would play a game of quarterback HORSE.

Friends Jayven and Kiran Sandhu, who were twins, would run routes while the Sayin brothers would launch their throw, and graded each other's 10 passes.

The loser would buy the smoothies at the smoothie shop around the corner before everyone headed home for online high school.

"My brother, it was awesome to have him growing up as a mentor, then someone who I was competing with every day," Sayin said to ESPN.

"I was trying to be better than him, so it was a lot of fun going to quarterback workouts with him, and we grew up a lot [as passers] during that time."

With those sessions early in the morning and school almost exclusively remote, it was Sayin’s release. And it certainly served him well.

"He sees it. The ball comes out quick. The guys believe in him," said Ohio State coach Ryan Day. "And he has a special talent of putting the ball on time with accuracy."

And Day isn’t wrong. Sayin has led Ohio State to an undefeated and utterly dominant regular season. He threw for 3,065 yards, 30 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Plus, the evergreen quarterback, who is producing the most insane statistics, is also a finalist this year for four national awards – the Walter Camp Award, the Maxwell Award, the Manning Award and the Davey O’Brien Award – as well as being a candidate for the Heisman Trophy.

In fact, heading into Saturday's Big Ten championship clash against the number two ranked Indiana, Sayin is completing an eye-popping 78.9% of his passes, on pace to surpass the 77.5% mark set two years ago by Bo Nix.